MONDAy, MARCH 2 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST ez su A
[peace] deal,” Ghani said. “If they
back away from it, then [the Ta li-
ban are] openly violating the con-
dition set for them.”
Gen. Austin “Scott” miller, re-
sponding to a question from The
Washington Post, said “the expec-
tation is Ta liban violence contin-
ues to stay down and does not go
back up.”
Pompeo said the Ta liban has
made “a detailed set of commit-
ments... about the levels of vio-
lence that can occur, the nature of
what’s got to take place.”
“We’ve asked everyone there to
reduce the levels of violence,” he
said.
massoud Andarabi, Afghani-
stan’s acting interior minister,
said the reduction of violence has
mostly held.
But Andarabi said that he has
received four reports of the Ta li-
ban abducting Afghan police offi-
cers within the past two days. A
U.S. official, speaking on the con-
dition of anonymity because of
the sensitivity of the issue, said he
believes the new kidnappings are
intended to bolster Ta liban lever-
age in the upcoming prisoner ex-
change.
“Prisoners are going to matter
going forward, and how those
cards are played is going to mat-
ter,” the official said.
A deepening political crisis in
Kabul also has the potential to
complicate the next steps. Ghani’s
main rival, Abdullah Abdullah,
called the deal signing an “histor-
ic event” and expressed hope for
“an inclusive, national and coun-
trywide delegation to take part” i n
talks with the Ta liban.
Abdullah, who lost the 2019
presidential election, recently de-
clared the result invalid and has
threatened to set up a parallel
government. If these divisions
persist, they could undermine
Ghani’s a bility to form a represen-
tative team to negotiate with the
Ta liban.
In the year leading up to the
signing of the peace deal, the con-
flict here intensified, resulting in
record-high civilian casualties.
The conflict has cost more than
$2 trillion and killed tens of thou-
sands since 2001.
[email protected]
[email protected]sayed salahuddin and sharif Hassan
contributed to this report.ple to hell,” said the man, who
declined to give his name for fear
of reprisals. He l ived through Ta li-
ban rule in Kabul, he said, and
never witnessed the levels of cor-
ruption, petty theft and crime he
has seen under the current ad-
ministration.
“Hearing about the peace deal,
it energized me,” he said.
What the peace deal signed in
Doha on Saturday did not men-
tion is the future of the period of
reduced violence that preceded
the deal’s signing. following the
signing ceremony, Taliban
spokesman Suhail Shaheen said
the week-long period of reduced
violence has “ended.”
Ghani said the reduction in
violence would extend and even-
tually transform into a cease-fire.
The top U.S. commander in Af-
ghanistan “has made it clear to
the Ta liban that this is part of theknow who these people are.”
outside the palace walls in Ka-
bul, Afghans expressed apprehen-
sion and elation.
“I’m not optimistic,” said Qasi-
ma Khuram, a 22-year-old stu-
dent working in a cafe in the
Afghan capital. Khuram, who said
she has dreams of being a busi-
ness owner after completing her
master’s degree, said she was
most concerned about women’s
rights if the Ta liban assumes a
formal role in any future Afghan
government.
“We know their background,
we know their history,” she said.
“So looking back at this, we know
what they would do in the future.”
Across the street, a 57-year-old
man selling almonds said he
would have danced when the
peace d eal was signed — “ if I knew
how to dance.”
“This government guides peo-for the release of 5,000 p risoners.”
He said the prisoner swap could
be discussed during talks with the
Ta liban, but could n ot be a precon-
dition.
The text of the U.S.-Ta liban deal
released by the State Department
states that the exchange of 5,
Ta liban p risoners for 1,000 people
held by the Ta liban will occur “by
march 10, 2020, the first day of
intra-Afghan negotiations.”
The agreement has been a criti-
cal foreign policy goal for Presi-
dent Trump, who campaigned on
ending the w ar. But it came under
renewed criticism from his fellow
republicans back home.
rep. Liz Cheney (r-Wyo.),
chairwoman of the House repub-
lican Conference, said the deal
included concessions “that could
threaten the security of the Unit-
ed States.”
“releasing thousands of Ta li-
ban fighters, lifting sanctions on
international terrorists, and
agreeing to withdraw a ll U.S. forc-
es in exchange for promises from
the Ta liban, with no disclosed
mechanism to verify Ta liban com-
pliance, would be reminiscent of
the worst aspects of the obama
Iran nuclear deal,” she said in a
statement Saturday.
Secretary of State mike P ompeo
defended the deal Sunday.
“No one is under any illusion
that this will be straightforward,”
he told CBS News’s “face the Na-
tion.” “ We h ave built an important
base where we can begin to bring
American soldiers home, reduce
the risk of the loss of life of any
American in Afghanistan, and
hopefully set the conditions so the
Afghan people can build out a
peaceful resolution to their now,
what for them, is a 40-year strug-
gle.”
Asked about the Afghan gov-
ernment’s refusal to commit to
releasing 5,000 prisoners before
talks with the Ta liban, Pompeo
said “we will work with all rele-
vant parties... to create confi-
dence-building measures
amongst all of the parties.”
Asked if releasing 5,000 Ta li-
ban fighters would jeopardize the
prospects for peace, he said there
have been prisoner exchanges in
the past.
“We have managed to figure
our path forward,” he said. “We’ll
afgHanIstan from a
Afghan government objects to deal’s prisoner exchange
PHoTos By loreNzo TugNolI for THe WAsHINgToN PosT
an armed guard sits at the entrance of a shopping mall in central Kabul. Outside the palace walls in Kabul, afghans expressed
apprehension and elation about the U.s.-taliban peace agreement.a boy stands near his home in the Charahi Qambar refugee camp in
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